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OT: Champions League semi's

Beancounter88

Beancounter88

All Conference
Dec 22, 2010
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Man City v Real Madrid today
Atletico Madrid v Bayern Munich tomorrow

CL gets down to business today. Can Man City pull off a miracle? It appears Kompany and Silva are playing and De Bruyne is on fire lately. Atmosphere should be insane. Let's hear some predictions.
 
I believe CR7 is out for this leg, and possibly Benzema. But if Bale is healthy he is very tough to stop.
 
Fishky said:
2-0 Real Madrid as much as I would to see Man city pull it off although I am a United fan I don't think they have the horses.
Click to expand...

0-0 1st half.
Has there even been a shot on goal ?
 
Kbee3 said:
0-0 1st half.
Has there even been a shot on goal ?
Click to expand...

Not a single shot.


That being said the cameras were just on "Ronaldo," formerly of The Brazilian National Team, et al, but a tad on the heavy side these days and the one announcer goes "Well there's 2 Ronaldo's watching...I want to say one's in better shape than the other" lol!!!
 
very sad display of football on both sides very few chances and Madrid dominated the second half but could not finish. I still think they are in the drivers seat here though I expect Ronaldo will play at home and I am still looking for 2-0 to push them to the final.
 
Whom would you say has the advantage at this point, Real or City? Normally a road draw is a good result, but a 0-0 road draw is somewhat less good.
 
Real definitely has the advantage - they just have to win at home and they will be big favorites. The good news for City is that they did not surrender an away goal, so if they can score at Real they will force Real to win the game outright.
 
Fishky said:
very sad display of football on both sides very few chances and Madrid dominated the second half but could not finish. I still think they are in the drivers seat here though I expect Ronaldo will play at home and I am still looking for 2-0 to push them to the final.
Click to expand...

How are that "in the driver's seat" with ZERO away goals? Ridiculous comment even if they do win. A 1-1 game and City goes through. FAR from "driver's seat" status IMHO.
 
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This is why soccer is confusing to me. They don't follow the typical American calendar for sports, and I can't ever seem to follow it. There's always a different league going on, seemingly simultaneous. I thought Leicester was running away with the Premier League this year. And now this is going on at the same time?
 
hrdcorhays said:
This is why soccer is confusing to me. They don't follow the typical American calendar for sports, and I can't ever seem to follow it. There's always a different league going on, seemingly simultaneous. I thought Leicester was running away with the Premier League this year. And now this is going on at the same time?
Click to expand...
It's really not that complicated. Yes, the top clubs in Europe do play in two leagues simultaneously. In addition to their domestic league (like Leicester in the EPL), they play in a cross-European league known as the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid and Manchester City are currently playing in the Champions League semifinals.

Teams qualify for Champions League based on their prior-year performance in their domestic league.
 
hrdcorhays said:
This is why soccer is confusing to me. They don't follow the typical American calendar for sports, and I can't ever seem to follow it. There's always a different league going on, seemingly simultaneous. I thought Leicester was running away with the Premier League this year. And now this is going on at the same time?
Click to expand...

They take June and July off - "holiday" - and this year a lot of those guys will be playing for country in June (Euro 2016 and Copa American Centanario) so they'll get an entire month, maybe 6 weeks off, prior to next season IF they're not playing in the MLS for the summer (the MLS plays spring-to-fall for this very reason).
 
I think it would be easier if Leicester city won the Premier League this year, and then advanced to the Champions League later on in the year. More linear. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but the Champions league isn't made up solely of champions in their respective league? That's odd too. What does a team need to do to qualify for the champions league?

I also think that the individual European leagues don't have any playoffs, and its just a regular season champion is the only champion. Is that true?

I am not saying that the American way is the only way by any means, but I am just so accustomed to it that its really hard to wrap my head around the European model.
 
hrdcorhays said:
I think it would be easier if Leicester city won the Premier League this year, and then advanced to the Champions League later on in the year. More linear. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but the Champions league isn't made up solely of champions in their respective league? That's odd too. What does a team need to do to qualify for the champions league?

I also think that the individual European leagues don't have any playoffs, and its just a regular season champion is the only champion. Is that true?

I am not saying that the American way is the only way by any means, but I am just so accustomed to it that its really hard to wrap my head around the European model.
Click to expand...

They DO have playoff-like competition, if you will, but they are separate from the league championship. They are the domestic cups...The FA Cup, the Copa Del Rey, the Copa Italiana, etc. They are exactly like single elimination playoffs, and the cups are just about as prestigious as the league championship. It's sort of like Hockey, where the league points champion is recognized with the President's Trophy but the playoff champ gets the Stanley Cup.
 
hrdcorhays said:
I think it would be easier if Leicester city won the Premier League this year, and then advanced to the Champions League later on in the year. More linear. Also, correct me if I'm wrong but the Champions league isn't made up solely of champions in their respective league? That's odd too. What does a team need to do to qualify for the champions league?

I also think that the individual European leagues don't have any playoffs, and its just a regular season champion is the only champion. Is that true?

I am not saying that the American way is the only way by any means, but I am just so accustomed to it that its really hard to wrap my head around the European model.
Click to expand...
I think the European model makes it a lot more interesting. Keep in mind that soccer is the biggest global sport - played in a lot of countries. If every country had a NFL league and you wanted to know the true world champion, you would have best couple of teams in each country play in a tournament - kind of like the World Cup but for professional club teams. The top 4 Premier League (England) teams in 2016 qualify for the 2017 Champions League, along with the top teams from Spain, Germany, Italy, France, etc. What makes the play exciting is that this is the best quality in the world - the best club teams would beat the best World Cup teams (maybe not Spain or Germany).

We got a big game today - Atletico Madrid v Bayern Munich!
 
LevaosLectures said:
They DO have playoff-like competition, if you will, but they are separate from the league championship. They are the domestic cups...The FA Cup, the Copa Del Rey, the Copa Italiana, etc. They are exactly like single elimination playoffs, and the cups are just about as prestigious as the league championship. It's sort of like Hockey, where the league points champion is recognized with the President's Trophy but the playoff champ gets the Stanley Cup.
Click to expand...

First off, I'm very familiar with those competitions, thanks. Second, they are NOT playoffs, and calling them as such would have you laughed at all over Europe. Let's look at England:

Every team who is eligible, based on your affiliated league (over 700 teams for FA and 90+ for League Cup), is AUTOMATICALLY entered. No wins, no losses, no standings, no 5 or 7-game series, and NO seeds. The first 12 rounds of FA are based on RANDOM DRAW, as well, so please put your "playoff" nonsense to rest because these are "tournaments." Thank you.
 
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AreYouNUTS said:
First off, I'm very familiar with those competitions, thanks. Second, they are NOT playoffs, and calling them as such would have you laughed at all over Europe. Let's look at England:

Every team who is eligible, based on your affiliated league (over 700 teams for FA and 90+ for League Cup), is AUTOMATICALLY entered. No wins, no losses, no standings, no 5 or 7-game series, and NO seeds. The first 12 rounds of FA are based on RANDOM DRAW, as well, so please put your "playoff" nonsense to rest because these are "tournaments." Thank you.
Click to expand...

I don't know if you were getting snarky with me or someone else here, but that is not my intent to criticize. I'm really not judging soccer, but I am someone who could rattle off all kinds of ridiculous sports facts, but the European soccer calendar I cannot wrap my head around. And the fact that two of you are seemingly arguing over whether there is a playoff, be it per se or not, kinda proves my point a little. And there's a Europa Cup and a Euro Cup? And what the hell is FA cup? Why does champions league include non-champions of their respective leagues?
 
hrdcorhays said:
I don't know if you were getting snarky with me or someone else here, but that is not my intent to criticize. I'm really not judging soccer, but I am someone who could rattle off all kinds of ridiculous sports facts, but the European soccer calendar I cannot wrap my head around. And the fact that two of you are seemingly arguing over whether there is a playoff, be it per se or not, kinda proves my point a little. And there's a Europa Cup and a Euro Cup? And what the hell is FA cup? Why does champions league include non-champions of their respective leagues?
Click to expand...

Sorry, I fixed it, and it was "snarky," I guess, but to LevaosLectures. There's no "argument," btw, these simply are NOT "playoffs" (as we know them...), they're straight-up tournaments.

Champions League includes non-champs to get the # of teams where they want it, and because some leagues are much better than others, but as mentioned before it's not random either.

Euro Cup is "national team" tournament (England vs Greece, for example) and similar to those held on the continents of Asia, Africa, North and South America, as well. The finals 32 nations)are held every 4 years, during the same summer as The Olympics, but all of Europe and IIRC Eurasia begins play shortly after The World Cup.

Europa Cup - like Champions League BUT for the "next best" qualifiers from the same leagues and a couple others. Also there are Champions League teams that get relegated to Europa Cup after a specific round.

FA Cup - ALL 750+ English club teams. Go to Wiki page for all info way too much to type from my phone lol!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FA_Cup
 
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"First off, I'm very familiar with those competitions, thanks. Second, they are NOT playoffs, and calling them as such would have you laughed at all over Europe. Let's look at England:"

I never said they were playoffs. Try reading. It's not hard.

"so please put your "playoff" nonsense to rest because these are "tournaments." Thank you."

Playoffs ARE tournaments, in case this has escaped your attention.

Nice attempt at snark, but it works better if you don't completely embarrass yourself in the process.
 
LevaosLectures said:
"First off, I'm very familiar with those competitions, thanks. Second, they are NOT playoffs, and calling them as such would have you laughed at all over Europe. Let's look at England:"

I never said they were playoffs. Try reading. It's not hard.

"so please put your "playoff" nonsense to rest because these are "tournaments." Thank you."

Playoffs ARE tournaments, in case this has escaped your attention.

Nice attempt at snark, but it works better if you don't completely embarrass yourself in the process.
Click to expand...

LOL keep trying and spinning away. I'll post what I had up here before:

Playoffs:

- NOT every team makes
- BASED on records
- you EARN a spot
- have "SEEDS" and whatnot
- are multiple game (see: 3, 5, 7) SERIES

TOURNAMENTS/"COMPETITIONS" (the ones we are speaking about in this thread):

- EVERY team who is eligible based on league affiliations (FA Cup - affiliated leagues with some 750 teams/League Cup ALL 92 teams in EPL and The Football League)
- NOT based on records
- you DON'T have to earn a spot so long as "affiliated"
- NO seeding
- NO series

...if you can't decipher the differences on your own, I don't know what to tell you, but they are not playoffs NOR are they "playoff-like", IMHO, in any sense that WE - here in America - think of "playoffs."
 
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AreYouNUTS said:
LOL keep trying and spinning away. I'll post what I had up here before:

Playoffs:

- NOT every team makes
- BASED on records
- you EARN a spot
- have "SEEDS" and whatnot
- are multiple game (see: 3, 5, 7) SERIES

TOURNAMENTS/"COMPETITIONS" (the ones we are speaking about in this thread):

- EVERY team who is eligible based on league affiliations (FA Cup - affiliated leagues with some 750 teams/League Cup ALL 92 teams in EPL and The Football League)
- NOT based on records
- you DON'T have to earn a spot so long as "affiliated"
- NO seeding
- NO series

...if you can't decipher the differences on your own, I don't know what to tell you, but they are not playoffs NOR are they "playoff-like", IMHO, in any sense that WE - here in America - think of "playoffs."
Click to expand...


You don't get to make up your own definitions of words. That's not how it works. The NFL playoffs aren't a tournament? Please. It's absolutely pathetic.

Also, again, I never said the FA cup were "playoffs." I said that cups are "playoff-like." And they CERTAINLY ARE. They are elimination tournaments. JUST LIKE PLAYOFFS. It's not my fault that you can't be bothered to READ WHAT SOMEONE ACTUALLY SAYS before you snark off on them like a fool.
 
So how about Atletico holding Bayern scoreless. Second leg will be interesting in both semis.
 
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MadRU said:
So how about Atletico holding Bayern scoreless. Second leg will be interesting in both semis.
Click to expand...
As a Bayern fan, I actually feel pretty confident going into the second leg. There's absolutely no excuse for the brilliant goal scored against them. They shouldn't have let him go as far as he did, but that was a tremendous shot. It's also something that should be corrected. I doubt anyone will be able to go through the midfield like they did today.

More importantly, Bayern's passing was completely thrown off by the field slowing the ball. On their home field -- especially with the possession numbers they had today -- I think they will be able to do very well. And I doubt a different ref will allow Atletico to manhandle Lewandowski like they did today. A few more set pieces and I think Bayern will come away with the win. Atletico's keeper is very good, but I expect Bayern to win rather comfortably actually.
 
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By the way, Nuts, you know that the FA Cup third/fourth place match was known as the third place "play-off", right? But, surely, suggesting there is anything "playoff" like about a Cup tournament would get me laughed out of England.
 
FWIW (which is likely zero), here are current SkyBet odds:

ODDS ON REACHING FINAL:
Real Madrid 4/11
Atletico Madrid 8/13
Bayern Munich 5/4
Manchester City 2/1

ODDS TO WIN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE:
Real Madrid 13/8
Atletico Madrid 9/4
Bayern Munich 11/4
Manchester City 7/1
 
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MadRU said:
So how about Atletico holding Bayern scoreless. Second leg will be interesting in both semis.
Click to expand...

I agree, and said it earlier At Madrid are a tough team to play. A great individual play by Saul to score the goal. They have the best defense around, and all of their players play hard and aggressive, and they run a lot. Bayern is lucky to be at home for the second leg. It should be a great game! I only wish I was able to see it live on tv.

The Man City -R Madrid match will also be interesting, but RM will have the advantage of playing at home, and possibly they can get Ronaldo & Benzema healthy.I also hope Man City get Toure back as well.
 
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